Dear Colleague,
NASA is pleased to call to the attention of members of the U.S.
scientific community the release by the European Space Agency (ESA)
of the Announcement of Opportunity (AO), "XMM-Newton Call for
Observing Proposals", soliciting Guest Observing proposals for the
third cycle (AO-3) observing program for ESA's X-ray Multi-Mirror
Mission (XMM-Newton). The subject Announcement solicits proposals
for observations to be performed during a 15-month period commencing
in late 2003. Due to the nature of the NASA-ESA bilateral agreement,
proposals from scientists affiliated with U.S. institutions only are
solicited by this Letter; others are urged to contact ESA directly.
U.S. scientists may propose either as Principal Investigators or as
Co-Investigators on proposals with non-U.S. P.I.'s (foreign P.I.
proposals). The AO may be accessed directly from ESA at the following
address:
http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/
NASA has instituted an XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at
the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a support center for
XMM-Newton activities in the U.S. Information of interest to U.S.
observers, as well as general project information, can be found at
the following address:
http://xmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
A detailed description of the mission, including instrument
capabilities and additional information pertaining to the proposal
preparation and submission procedures, are also available via links
from the XMM-Newton home page at that address. (General questions
concerning XMM-Newton and participation by U.S. investigators should be
addressed to xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov.) ESA will be responsible
for conducting a peer review of all submitted proposals, including
those from U.S. investigators, and determining the associated time
allocation. Current plans call for ESA to notify proposers and NASA
of the results of the peer review in late Summer/early Fall 2003.
As on Cycles 1 and 2, NASA has allocated funding for a Guest Observer
(GO) program to support the analysis, interpretation, and publication
of data obtained by U.S. proposers who are granted Open Time observing
on XMM-Newton through the ESA AO. The level of funding available for
any approved program will depend on the total funding available, the
size and complexity of the investigation, whether the proposed budget
is for a P.I. or lead Co.-I. (for foreign PI proposals), and on the
ultimate number of U.S. investigations approved by ESA. Note that
highest priority is assigned to U.S. P.I. proposals; funding for Co-I.
participation in foreign-P.I. proposals is allocated at a significantly
lower level. We anticipate that approximately $6.0 M will be available
for support of U.S. Guest Observers under AO-3. Details regarding the
timing and mechanism of NASA's solicitation for data analysis funding
requests will be announced after the results of the ESA peer review
have been released; please do not submit a budget with your observing
proposal.
For additional technical or programmatic information regarding U.S.
participation in the XMM mission, please contact:
Technical Information: Dr. Steve Snowden
Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 662
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Tel: (301) 286-8100
Fax: (301) 286-1684
snowden@riva.gsfc.nasa.gov
Programmatic Information: Dr. Louis Kaluzienski
NASA Headquarters
Code SZ
Washington, DC 20546
Tel: (202) 358-0365
Fax: (202) 358-3096
Louis.J.Kaluzienski@nasa.gov
Sincerely,
Dr. Paul Hertz
Senior Scientist for Space Science Research
Astronomy and Physics Division, NASA
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